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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “sweep”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “sweep”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 2 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

WP Maintenance Mode & Site Under Construction shows at wp.org #8 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Atarim – AI Agency for WordPress: Edit Pages, Fix Code, Update Plugins, SEO & Client Feedback places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 126 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP-Sweep 100K+ · 4.7★ (138) wp.org #1 2 Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1487) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Autoremove Attachments 3K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Media Sweep – WordPress Media Cleaner 1K+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 My Private Site – Make Your Whole Site Private, Force Login & Block Registration Spam 10K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Atarim – AI Agency for WordPress: Edit Pages, Fix Code, Update Plugins, SEO & Client Feedback 1K+ · 4.9★ (126) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too low 7 SweepPress: Website Cleanup and Optimization 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 24TT Document Verifier 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 The Off Switch (formerly WP Avoid Slow) 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 SureMembers – Membership & Content Restriction Plugin 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↑2 3 too high 11 Searchips Search By Image for WooCommerce 10+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Wexlab Motion Effects for Elementor — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑7 1 too high 13 WP Maintenance Mode & Site Under Construction 3K+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too high 14 PRBLEM Sweep — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 LolaCore for Statistics 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 RankShield — Ranking & Ad-Spend Attack Protection 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 17 KineticHub Page Loader – Preloader & Branded Loading Screen 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 18 Animation Kit – Animated Backgrounds & WebGL Effects 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓4 1 too low 19 Mega Database Cleanup – Optimize Database, Clean Sweep & Speed Up Performance — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 ContactSweep by Rank Secure – Find Outdated Phone Numbers, Emails & Addresses — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Plugtuner Radio Player — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 ButtonCraft Animated Buttons – With Click Analytics — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23 PhilDesigns Responsive Preview — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Login for Stripe Customer Portal | Stripe Billing Login Page | Magic Link Customer Account 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 3 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.